What we all know concerning the suspect within the German Christmas market assault

A Saudi physician with a historical past of anti-Islamic rhetoric is the alleged driver of a ram car attack at a Christmas market within the German metropolis of Magdeburg which left 5 useless and dozens injured.

The suspect was arrested on the scene following the three-minute assault within the metropolis middle that shook the nation.

Friday evening’s assault on crowds gathered to have fun the Christmas interval might sharpen a fierce debate in Germany over safety and immigration forward of February’s nationwide elections, with opinion polls suggesting the acute proper will get good outcomes.

Here is what we all know thus far concerning the man who was arrested.

Life in Germany

The suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi who has everlasting resident standing in Germany, the place he has lived for nearly twenty years.

The suspect has not been named by authorities. A number of German media name him Taleb A.

The suspect had labored as a psychiatrist in a specialised rehabilitation clinic for drug offenders in Bernburg since March 2020. “Because the finish of October 2024, he has been absent for trip and sickness,” the institution stated in a press launch.

The scene after the assault on the Magdeburg Christmas market. Picture: AFP by way of Getty

He lived on a quiet avenue close to the middle of Bernburg, a city of 30,000 inhabitants south of Magdeburg, in a three-story constructing.

Attainable purpose

German authorities stated early on that the suspect was not identified to authorities as an Islamist.

Inside Minister Nancy Faeser declined to touch upon the suspect’s motives or political affiliations, however stated his Islamophobia was “apparent.”

Magdeburg native prosecutor Horst Nopens stated one potential issue within the assault may very well be the suspect’s “dissatisfaction with the remedy of Saudi refugees in Germany”, however added that the motive remained obscure.

Far-right sympathies

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Germany mourns five dead, 200 injured in attack…

Taleb A. appeared in plenty of media interviews in 2019, reporting on his work as an activist serving to Saudis who had turned their backs on Islam flee to Europe.

In a BBC documentary from July 2019, the person talks about creating the wearesaudis.internet platform after changing into an atheist and searching for asylum in Germany.

He fiercely criticized Islam in these interviews, telling the German newspaper FAZ in June of that yr: “There isn’t any good Islam.”

His account on the social media platform Olaf Scholz and expressed his help for the AfD.